The Union County-Marysville Rideshare Program now has its first full quarter of data and officials say it’s doing well but they want to increase numbers.
Eric Phillips, the economic development director for the county and city, updated the county commissioners last week on the pilot program with Uber, which now has data from Jan. 1 to March 31 and has started collecting through the first part of this month. Phillips said the results so far are positive.
“It’s some really detailed data about where we are three and half months into this program,” he said. “And I’m really happy with the results.”
According to data collected with assistance from the Union County Health Department, Phillips said the program has seen 68 unique riders taking advantage of the program between the start of the year and the end of March.
Data collected reflects usage of the incentive program, which pays the first $10 of a trip if riders use the app, not Uber usage overall.
“We need to get that number up, that’s one area that I think we need to grow in,” Phillips said.
The program was pitched in the middle of last year and required $100,000 for one year, with $25,000 each from the county and city and the remaining $50,000 coming from private investment. The goal of the pilot is to subsidize the drivers and riders and then, after a year, the system would be in place for Ubers to remain and be used.
Data shows the average number of riders per day is between 11 and 12 and Phillips said the average duration of the rides are six minutes, so riders are using the program in the designated area which, for now, is within and from the 43040 zip code to other locations.
“(Riders) are not too far from their destination. Medium duration is five minutes. Again, there are appointments, probably, and/or going to work,” Phillips said.
When the pilot program was discussed last summer, Phillips said it wouldn’t be a public transportation program exactly, but could help with workforce issues as area businesses expressed a need for transportation options for employees.
County Administrator Bill Narducci said another assumption earlier on was that the program would be an option for visitors from outside the area to Marysville businesses.
“The surprising thing is, when we’ve had conversations with businesses, yes, workforce was one of the primary goals but also weekends, visiting drinking establishments and being able to come from Dublin, for example, or surrounding areas and not having to worry about having a couple of drinks and then having to drive home or having to find a ride home,” he said. “It’s surprising to see that it’s not being (or) it doesn’t seem it’s being utilized as much as we thought it would be.”
Phillips said, instead, much of the data shows pick up and drop off locations at Honda during first-shift hours and tapering off around 8 p.m. The other areas of high concentration are the hotels on the east side of Marysville.
Phillips said he assumed riders would also use the program to travel outside the county, to the airport, for instance, but said that’s not happening as much.
“I was surprised. They’re not using it for an airport shuttle, this is actually local mobility happening,” he said.
He said to know it’s being used primarily for work – the peak time being 6 a.m. – it’s serving its purpose.
“When I look at this data and this information, the program’s actually done exactly what we thought it should do or what we want it to do, which is really good,” Phillips said. “Just getting the presence of Uber is not easy but as growth continues in the county, you’re going to see, probably, that demand increase.”
The next steps would be to revamp the marketing campaign and further promote the program as a workforce mobility option, Phillips said.
“Overall, this is good information to have,” he added. “The data shows you that I think it’s meeting its purpose from the original discussions we had.”